


All Men Must Live

by RavensFan1989



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: M/M, Thoric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-13 00:56:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7955860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavensFan1989/pseuds/RavensFan1989
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Brotherhood Without Banners is heading north to fight in the great war to come. They have stopped at an inn for the night. While Thoros knows the trip is one they need to make, he does not look forward to how it might end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Men Must Live

They had done all that they could in the Riverlands. It was time the Brotherhood Without Banners headed north. The Lord of Light had not given Thoros the power to bring Beric back time and time again for them to remain in the south helping the smallfolk who couldn't help themselves. There was a bigger war coming, and the Lightening Lord would no doubt have an important part to play in it.  
  
As glad as Thoros was to be heading north, a part of him wished they could have remain in the Riverlands. If Beric died during the fight to come, then the red priest knew in his heart that R'hllor would not be bringing him back a seventh time. All Thoros could do was hope that death during the great war was not Beric's fate. Or, if it was, then he hoped that he followed his leader and, more importantly, his friend into the grave.  
  
This evening found them at the crossroads inn. They had enjoyed a hot meal and plenty of ale. Thoros and some of the others in the Brotherhood had also found themselves enjoying the sight of the innkeep's daughter. But they had traveled far today and still had many miles to go before they reached the Wall so most of them retired for the night after they had filled their stomachs with food and drink.  
  
Thoros lingered the longest in the common room, staying there for another good half an hour after the last of the Brotherhood had left. Finishing the last of his ale, he made his way up the stairs to the second floor. Limited space had necessitated that each of them had to share a room with at least one of their brothers-in-arms. Quite naturally, Thoros was sharing his with Beric. The red priest was never far from his side.  
  
The sight that greeted his eyes when he entered the room was Beric laying on the bed wearing nothing but his smallclothes. He sat up when his friend came in. A puzzled expression quickly passed across Beric's face when he saw that Thoros was alone. "If you came up here to ask for privacy, then I can give you an hour."  
  
It was Thoros' turn to be confused. "And what would I need privacy for?" he inquired.  
  
"I saw you eyeing the innkeep's daughter. Do not tell me that you left her down there with no promises of being back for her soon."  
  
Thoros shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not interested in her tonight." He took a seat next to Beric.  
  
This was a first...Thoros not interested in a woman who had seemed interested in him. The only logical explanation was that the red priest had something bothering him on his mind. "And what troubles you so that you have turned down the company of a beautiful and willing woman?"  
  
He didn't want to talk about it. But not talking about it might make it fester and grow even worse. "You," he stated simply. How he wished he had brought up a mug of ale with him to help wash all of his thoughts away. "I'm afraid we’re riding to your death. Once you fulfill whatever purpose the Lord has brought you here for, He will no longer need to bring you back." And there was little doubt in Thoros' mind that that purpose did lay in the North.       

“ _Valar morghulis_ ,” Beric uttered in reply.

“ _Valar dohaeris_ ,” Thoros responded merely out of accustomed habit. He rested a hand on the Lightening Lord’s knee. “Every time you die, I dread that it’s the time that the Lord will no longer bring you back. I always knew the day would eventually come, but now that it’s almost here…” Thoros trailed off as he wasn’t sure how he wanted to finish that sentence. They had a mission—a mission given to them by R’hllor. There was no turning back from it, as hard as it would be to lose his friend.  

Beric laid his hand on top of Thoros'. "No man should live forever," he said, "Especially not like this."  
  
He didn't need to ask Beric for clarification. If the Lord brought him back enough times, there would come a day when Beric was resurrected and had no idea who he was. Thoros imagined that that fate would be even worse than death. "That doesn't mean I can't wish we weren't traveling to the end." He leaned in, placing a chaste (for him at least) kiss on his friend's lips.  
  
This was not the first time Thoros had kissed him outside of the last kisses he had done to bring Beric back to life. The two of them had been more than friends for many years now. They sought comfort in one another whenever either of them (most often Thoros) wanted to remember there was more to life than the mission R'hllor had set them on-that they could both fulfill that mission and enjoy the other things life had to offer.

Thoros gently pushed Beric onto his back. He climbed on top of him and resumed their kiss, this time with much more passion behind it. Inns were going to become more and more scarce the further north they traveled so they were both going to enjoy this night for as long as they could.

 

~*~

 

Beric didn't need to sleep, but he had closed his eyes and drifted off to as close to a state of sleep as he ever could get. When next he opened them, he saw it was still dark outside and realized that Thoros was missing from the bed. He sat up and saw the red priest sitting in a chair by the hearth. The fire that had almost been dead a few hours ago was blazing brightly again. "How long have you been up?" Beric asked.  
  
Thoros ignored the question and kept his eyes fixed on the flames. "The Lord has given me the power to bring you back," he stated, "but He never saw fit to give me the power to see the future in His flames." Thoros wasn't sure he wanted to know what might happen in the near future, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying to see it every chance he had.  
  
The Lightening Lord let out a small sigh. "What will happen will happen, Thoros." He could understand his friend's desire to want to know what they were riding towards. He, however, was not as keen as the red priest was to know what might happen. "Come back to bed. You need to rest."

“I’m not tired,” he replied, sound quite the opposite as he uttered those words.

Beric got up and made his way over to stand behind Thoros’ chair. He rested his hands on the red priest’s shoulders before running them further down his chest. “Then we don’t need to rest in bed.”

One more round before the sun came up. Thoros wasn’t sure that he was capable of saying no, even if he had wanted to. Thoros stood up and turned to face Beric. Every injury that marked one of Beric’s deaths was laid bare to him. And soon the final mark might arrive.

But soon was not right now. Right now Thoros traced his fingers along Beric’s scars. Right now he grabbed a hold of his hand and led him back towards the bed. Right now he was going to focus on the time they still had left together.

All men must die but, first, all men must live.


End file.
